1    I    U  l-l  LJ  I- 


t53b 


No  84. 


A  TRACT  FOR  THE  SOLDIER 


UY   RKV.    J.  A.  PROCTOR. 


1  i'RESLME  you  have  a  leisure  hour.  If  80,  it  may  Imj 
inkjreetino;  to  you  to  peruse  a  few  tlioughts  which  I  pur- 
TH)se  to  set  down  iu  simple  language  and  address  to  you. 
Fivery  soldier  of  our  OonfedeTaoy  in  an  object  of  great 
interest  to  those  for  wiiom  he  if*  fighting.  Sometimes  tJ^ie 
soldier  is  disposed  to  doubt  this.  Letters  from  home 
come  but  seldom  :  his  name  is  not  mentioned  iu  tlie 
ne^vspaper  ;  he  sees  hirasellf  as  only  one  of  a  great  mul- 
titude, "lost  like  a  drop  iu  the  boundless  main,"  and 
he  concludes  tiiat  he  is  uncarod  for  and  well-nigh  for- 
gotten. Soldier,  this  is  not  so.  There  are  but  few  iu 
our  whole  country  who  art;  not  anxiously  concerned  in 
regard  to  your  con<lition.  Compared  with  our  entire 
]»opulafrion,  there  are  but  few  heartless  speculators,  and 
there  are  hardly  any  whose  hearts  arc  in  sympathy  with 
the  Yankee  .  Government.  All  the  rest  of  -our  people 
feel  a  constant  solicitude  for  the  brave  soldiers  who  are 
enduring  hardships,- and  fearlessly  facing  the  danger* 
of  the  battle-iield,  in  defence  of  Southern  honor  and 
Southern  ^'ights.  They  are  concerned  for  your  bodily 
condition.  AV hen  they  meet  around  the  table  to  share 
the  food  with  which  a  kind  Providence  has  supplied 
them,  they  think  of  your  scanty  and  hard  fare,  and 
would  joyrully  divide  their  portion  wii^i  you.  When 
the  winii-v  winds  are  h»wling  around  thoiv  dwellings, 


2  i.  TRACT  FOR  THE  SOLDIER. 

iuui  the  raiu  pours  down  in  torrents,  or  tJve  buow  is  cor- 
enng  tho  earth  and  chilling  the  air,  tliey  remember  th^ 
poor  soldiers  who  are  exposed  to  it'all,  and  would  gladly 
protect  them  from  the  storm.  To  hear  that  any  of  our 
soldiers  fire  without  blankets,  or -clothing,  or  shoee,  ssnda 
a  pang  to  ever?  true  Southron's  heart.  Our  people 
know  that  yf.u  have  eneugh  to  suffer  even  when  best 
provided  for,  and  I  ara  very  greatly  mistaken  if  they 
will  nut  do  all  in  their  power  to  make  your  condition  as 
conifurtahie  us  your  circumstnnces  will  admit. 

But,  soldier,  your  people  at  home  are  not  merely  con- 
cerned for  your  bodilv  c*>ndition,  they  are  concerned  far 
your  moral  ami  f^pirituai  welfare.  ^  Not  all,  it  i^  true, 
who  are  interost«.'d  in  your  physical  well-being  are  care- 
ful of  your  rolip,iou3  condition,  )mt  there  are  thousands 
at  home  who  h:A  the  deepes^^  Juterest  in  this  subject, 
while  they  are  not  forgetful  of  the  former.  There  are 
Mothers  here,  who,  in  the  fear  of  God  and  in  tlie  faith  of 
the  Oofipel,  are  pending  up  earnest  prayers  to  heaven 
for  the  sons  whom  God  has  given  tliomi  They  are  pray- 
ing not  oiily  that  Go<l  may  protect  their  boys  in  the  day 
of  ])attle  and  from  the  diseases  of  the  camp,  but  that 
Ho  will  pre.servc  them  from  the  \iccs  of  the  army,  and 
makt)  themniprigiit,  honoralde,  high-minded  Christian 
men.  Soldier,  liavt  you  a  wdiher?  There  are  fathers 
and  sisters  here,  who  liave  brothers  and  sons  in  the  field, 
believe  in  God,  that  daily  and  ferventh'  pray  for  God's 
,  ypiritual  blessings  on  their  brothers  and  sons  in  the  ar- 
my ;  and  the  Churcli  of  Christ,  in  all  its  branches,  feeb 
this  solicitude  pressing  on  its  great  heart  a  mighty 
weight  of  responsibility.  From,  every  congregation  in 
tlie  land,  fervent  sx^ppheatiijns  for  blessings  on  the  army 
ape  sent  up  every  Saobath  i  and  in  ?he  stillness  of  the 
closet,  at  morning,  noon  and  evening  of  every  day,  the 
prayers  of  the  Sabbath  are  earnestly  repeated,  Socit^ 
ties'have  been  organi-ze-i  for  ih^  especial  purpo^o  of  pro* 


A  TRACT  FOR  THE  SOLDIEn,  3    /pj,^ 

;«  /r>; 

motine  the  i-eligious  interests  of  the  soldier  ;  holy,  God-  i?  53 
foari^  men  have  been  employed  to  act  as  colporteurB, 
and  thout*aads  of  religious  tracts  are  being  daily  distri- 
buted in  the  hospitals  and  in  the  camps.  It  is  a  matter 
of  dewut  thunk'Hcrivinp;  to  Almip;hty  God  that  all  this 
lnt*>rest  has  mtt  bocii  manifested  in  vain.  Ch.t'eriug  ae- 
<^>tmt8  of  relictions  revivals  come  in  fr(»m  almost  every 
department  of  the  army.  It  i*^  not  extravagant  to  .^lay 
that  thousands  of  soldiers,  Avho  Avere  nncoTjcerned  be- 
fore, have  b(H^n  oonvort-ed  to  («od  sinco  this  war  Itegan. 
Some  of  these  are  now  giving  to  adorn  the  doetinues  of 
the  8a\'iour,  and  sunie  of  ihenv  are  tilling  soldiers'  graves; 
but  they  died  in  the  trjmiiphs  of  a  .Saviour's  love. 

Soldier,  you  have  wituest^od  this  iutore^'t  in  your  spir- 
itual welfare.     Yon  have  seen  the  colporteur  in  his  dai- 
ly rounds,  and  you  have  read  some  of  t!ie   tracts :  but- 
let  me  ask  you  how -has  the  exhibition  of- this  interest  ' 
on  the  pavt  of  your  friends  at  homo  affected  you  ? 

The  writer  of  these  lines  is  to  you»  soldier,  an  un- 
known stranger.  Your  eyes  .and  his,  it  is  probable, 
nevi^r  met.  You  may  never  see  lilm  until  tlje  eouflict« 
and  storms  of  worldly  life  are  over.  But  as  he  writes 
these  lines  he  feels  the  sympathies  of  a  common  kin- 
dnnl,  and  his  heart  moves  witliin  him  in  strong  desire 
t-)  do  you  good.  Come,  then,  and  let  us  reason  togeth- 
er, for  a  little  season,  on  tliis  moHt  important  concern 
Uiat  relates  to  man.  I  shall  ask  you  one  «piestion,  which 
I  hope  yon  will  patiently  consider.  I  can  not  hear  your 
ansvrcr :  but  God  is  ever  near  you :  His  eyes  behold 
you,  and  his  ears  midorstand  tlw  voioeles-s  hiJ\guage  of 
your  heart. 

Ay^  you  a  Chrisiian^  I'erhap.s  you  ansAver,  yr.-<. — 
You  look  back  to  the  time  when  your  soul  first  felt  th(^ 
pt^ace  of  God.  It  was  a  happy  day.  If  I  were  with 
you  to-day  it  would  give  me  pleasure  to  hear  you  recount 
tbe  eonaforts  of  that  blest  oecafilon.     It  is  well  to  speak 


4       .  A  TRACT  FOR  THE  SOLDIER. 

often  of  the  time  of  our  couveraion.  If  uu  liav^  no 
hearer.s  who  will  take  an  interCvSt  in  the  story,  we  should 
at  least  meditate  upon  it  in  our  own  hearts.  If  you 
have  been  ia  God's  service  long,  j^ou  have  no  doubt  oft- 
en felt  refreshed  by  singing  that  aweet  hymn  of  T>r. 
Doddridge,  beginning : 

Oh,  happy  day  that  fixed  my  choice  ^ 

On  Thee,  my  Saviour  and  my  God. 

Well  may  this  glowing  heart  rejoice, 
And  tell  its  raptures  ay  abroad. 

It  must  be  especially  pleasant  to  the  soldier  who  was 
converted  at  home  to  call  up  the  memory  of  that  day. 
He  goes  back  to  the  church  where  his  fathers  worship- 
ped— "  forms  and  faces"  of  dearly  loved  ones,  which 
perhaps  "  he  shall  see  no  more,'"*  stand  up  before  him, 
and  cTOwd  around  him — and  for  a  moment  he  imagines 
that  the  war  is  ended  and  the  endearing  associations  of 
former  life  returned.  But  mv  friend  let  me  call  you 
away  from  this  pleasing  meditation,  tb  remind  j'ou  that 
YOU  have  had  many  strong  temptations  and  many  torri- 
})\q  struggles  with  the  the  enemy  of  souls  since  you  first 
became  a  Christian,  and  to  assure  you  that,  in  all  pro- 
bability, if  you  live  much  longer,  you  will  have  many 
more.  Oh,  be  strong  for  the  coming  conflicts.  Prepare 
yourself  by  reading  God's  holy  word,  frequent  meqitft- 
tions  and  earnest  prayers. 

The  boatman's  oar  may  pause  upon  the  galley. 
The  soldier  sleep  beneath  his  plumed  crest, 

And  peace  may  fold  h«r  wing  o'er  hill  and  valley, 
But  thou,  oh.  Christian,  must  ndt  take  thy  rest. 

As  a  good  soldier,  in  your  country's  service,  yoxx  "on-, 
dure  bardnese" — sometimes  advancing,  sometimes  re- 
it^ftating,  i*ometiraes  without  food  and  tsometiraes  exposed 

storm  and  cold,  sometimes  ia  health  and  sometim&s 


A  TRACT  FOR  THE  SOLDIER.  5 

sick — but  {itwaya,  witli  uneonquercd  will,  your  watch- 
word 13  "  liberty  or  deiith/'  80  likewise,  a«  the  soldier 
of  Jesus  Christ,  you  must  },>e  firm  and  strong.  Hold 
fast  to  your  profession,  maintain  your  integrity,  trust 
in  the  living  God.  If  you  fall,  be  not  utterly  cast  down, 
but  rise  up,  and  in  the  jianic  of  Jesus,  who  lives  in  Hea- 
ven to  intercede  for  his  tempted  followers,  determine  to 
try  again.  May  G-od  help  yon,  Christian  soldier,  to 
' '  tight  the  good  light  of  faith,  and  huf  bold  on  eternal 
life!" 

Perhaps  your  answer  i?,  I  was  onct  a  Christian.  Poor 
backslider  !  While  battling  with  carnal  wea|X>n8  against 
the  enemy  of  your  country,  you  have  been  unmindful 
of  the  secret  stratagems  of  the  great  adversary  of  souls. 
You  are  to-day  "  led  captive  by  Satan  at  hia  will."  The 
"  strong  man  arm»<i"  has  bound  you,  and  you  feel  pow- 
erles.s  and  helpless.  I  do  not  reproach  you.  If  you 
ever  retlect  on  the  past,  you  have  enough  to  oppress  yon 
without  any  word  from  man. 

You  romeml>€r  the  day  of  your  conversion,  the  conso- 
lation you  found  in  religion,  the  peace  which  paseeth 
understanding,  and  the  joy  which  is  unspeakable.  You 
remember  the  joy  of  your  friends  when  you  told  them 
t:hat  God  was  gracious,  and  the  solemn  vows  and  prom- 
iises  you  then  made  to  your  Heavenly  Father.  But  what 
a  change  since  then!  Your  vows  are  broken,  your 
fi-iends  have  been  disappointed,  the  joy  of  your  heart 
has  ceased,  and  you  are  without  hope  and  without  God. 
But  what  Avill  you  do?  It  must  be  a  hard,  lot  to  load 
the  life  of  a  backslidden  Christian.  You  cannot  forget 
the  past ;  your  hopes  of  Heaven  and  your  fears  of  Hell 
— conscience  is  ever  at  work,  bringing  all  these  things  to 
your  remembrance.  What  will  you  do?  Soldier,  let 
me  lead  you  back  to  the  Saviour  !  Like  Peter,  you  have 
denied  the  blessed  Jesus,  but  He  looks  on  you  to-^ay 
and  says  goatly  *'com«  ba«k."     11*  is  able  to  iavt  yuu 


t>  A  TRACT  rOR  THE  aOLr>IEB.     • 

He  is  6tr»ngei'  than  "  the  strong  man  armed/"  Ue  has 
saved  thousands  as  bad  as  you.  He  is  wilUug  to  save 
you.  He  died  on  the  cross  to  manifest  hie  love.  David, 
and  Peter,  and  thousands  like  them,  departed  from  God, 
hut  coming  to  Jesus  found  him  a  precious  Saviour  •"?till. 
This  vrorld  can  not  satisfy  you  ;  .it.  wiif  ?<oon  be  gone. — 
Oh,  why  not  come  }>ack  to  God,  so  that  when  your  flesh 
and  heart" shall  fail,  He  may  be  the  strength  of  3'our 
heart  and  your  portion  forever.  If  j^ou  continue  as  yvu 
are,  3'our  life  must  be  raisoral>le,  and  dying,  you  vrill 
have  no  hope.  Oh,  tliat  our  merciful  God  may  help  you 
to  return  I 

Bat  it  may  be,  soldier,  that  you  answer  my  question 
with  this  language:  *'  I  atn  not  a  Christian."'  What 
are  you  then  V  A  mariner  on  a  stormy  ot^^an,  without 
a  compass  and  without  a  star  ;  a  .pilgrim  in  a  dreary 
wilderness,  without  a  fiither  and  \7ithout  a  home;  a 
skm^i'i'  horn  to  die,  and  without  a  Saciour  I  Why  are  you 
not  a  Christian?  Perhaps  yon  have  never  tried  to  an- 
.svrer  that  question.  That  you  are  not  a  Chiis.iaa  is 
not  because  it  is  not  to  your  advanfago  to  be  ojie,  not 
because  you  have  not  been  invited  ;  n^t  because  you 
have  not  had  opportunity,  nor  because  you  have  never 
felt  the  necessity  of  being  a  Christian.  Why,  then,  let 
me  ask,  are  you  not  a  Christian  ?     I  will  answer  thif? 

Question  for  you,  and  I  pray  God  that  tlie  truth  which 
shall  now  tell  you  may  be  saniitifhni  to  your  gOvXl !  It 
u?  becau.'se  you  har>c  been  lulkd  info  a  deathlike  shwibe)' 
by  the  enemy  of  souls.  As  the  ship-master  came  to  Jo- 
nah, so_  come  I  to  you!  "  What -meanest  thou,  oh, 
sleeper?  Arise,  call  upon  thy  God!"  It  is  passing 
strange  that  you  should  have  lived  so  long  in  this  land 
of  Gospel  light,  without  being  greatly  ooaceru^d  foy 
your  soul's  salvation.  The  earth  beneath  and  around, 
you,  and  the  sky  above  you,  have  told  you  of  God  ;  your 
soul  is  conscious  of  its  own  existence  and  of  ita  imtnor- 


i.  TRACT  FOR  TBTB  SOLDIlJt.  7 

talitY;  and  the  Bible  lylie  you  that  your  ftiture  Ptornal* 
4e8tiny  depends  upon  your   ac^^eptanoe  or  rejection  of 
the  tenn?  of  the  Gospel.     "  How  i?  it  that  vou  have  no 
faith  r 

-  Soldier  I  lot  mo  iuvite  you  to  become  a  Christian. 
Vou  doubtless  remomber  that  you  have  heard  this  invi- 
tation before  now.  In  the  church,  at  home,  your  min- 
ister has  often  urged  you  to  give  your  heart  to  God. 
Perhaps  a  fond  mother  lias  wept  over  her  wandering 
boy,  and  urii;ed  the  ^-amo  request.  Sifiterts,  fair  and  p;cu- 
tlc, — "li,  how  you  would  love  to  hear  their  voices  to-^layl 
— have  entreated  y(;>u  to  bo  reconciled  to  God.  You  have 
not  yielded.  You  ure  siill  .sleeping — sinning  still.  Oh, 
put  oil'  your  return  ro  God  no  longer.  By  the  shortness 
of  time  and  the  unoevtainty  of  life,  I  urge  you  to  re- 
pent. Many  ^^earij  of  your  liuie  are  already  past,  and 
your  heart,  m  its  throbbings,  is  beating  your  funeral 
march  to  the  grave.  At  be-^t  you  eon  expect  the  years 
of  your  pilgrimage  to  })e  o)ily  '  three  *3ore  yeare  and 
t«n."  IIow  feAV  live  out  the  full  measure  of  their  days  1 
But  these  nre  times  of  violence.  Ilnndreds  have  iiillen 
on  your  right  liand  and  on  your  left.  You  have  seen 
them  die.  Xeitber  youth  n»jr  strengrh  could  save  them. 
The  enemy  still  tbreatens--.  lie  h  i-ruel  as  the  grave. — 
Other  fields  must  oe  made  red  with  human  gore,  Sol- 
dierr,  yon  majf  j'n.U.  Oh,  be  prepared  :  and  then,  living, 
you  will  be  brave— and  dying,  you  w411  fall  a  bk\v,<c«d 
martyr  I  But  1  ur^e  you  to  recent  on  other  grounds, 
TheUove  of  Jesus  should  induce  you  to  be  religious. 
He  loved  you  and  gave  himself  for  you,'  On  the  cros.s 
he  suft'ered  a  bitter  tigony  and  died  to  redeem  your  soul. 
Will  you  let  him  di^  in  vain?  He  loves  you 'still,  and 
iis  now  interceding  for  you  in  Heaven.  How  matchless 
is  this  \o\e,—pltad(ng  love  for  rebellious  man  I  Oh, 
soldier,  believe  that  he  loves  you  ]  it  will  restrain  you 
fVom  sin,  it  will  bind  you  t^^  the  cr»;^s-.  it  will  nooihQ 


3  A  TRACT  FOR  THE  SOLDIER. 

your  aching  he>art.  1  might  Bay  mor©  to  jwu  on  tki*  in- 
terefitiiig  subject,  but  perhaps  I  h«vo  alreadv  6Hxed  you 
long  enough.  I  now  commend  you  "  to  (iocl  and  th« 
word  of  hisi  grace  which  is  able  to  build  you  vjp  and 
give  you  an  inheritance  among  the  saints  in  liffht.'^  If 
you  are  willing  to  become  a  Cliristian,  be  not  afraid  tliat 
Christ  will  cast  you  off.  "Whoso  cometh  unto  me;  I 
will  in  no  wise  cast  out,"  is  the  blessed  promise  which 
he  makes  to  every  pinner.  Come  to  him  by  for.sakinp; 
your  ains,  by  belies  ne  his  word  and  trustinjy  in.  it,  and 
by  earnest. prayer  f  r  nis  atoning  mercy.  Now,  as  you 
read,  you  may  give  up  your  poor  lieart  to  Goil.  Woiild 
you  know  how  to  approach  Ilim  ?  Let  this  be  your  lan- 
guage : 

Just  as  I  am,  without  one  plea, 
But  that  thy  biood  was  shed  for  mc, 
And  that  thou  bid'st  me  cometo  thee, 
Oh,  Lamb  of  ^<.k1,  I  come  I 


HoUinger  Corp. 
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